Over the past year or so I have been experiencing some knee problems on and off, it's really a recurrence of an injury from over 10 years ago. I agravated it the other day while running and would like to know if anyone has any good physical therapy type exersices that would strengthen the muscles around the knee.

This is the answer I got from my doctor. I raced middle-distance (running) for about 8 years and would get bad tendonitis from all the road miles. I can't really run anymore without inflaming my knee joints, so I ride instead. Riding with clipless pedals with extra float seems to help with the knee pain, also.

With the usual disclaimer about medical advice: I have a lapsed posterior cruciate ligament, and so need to keep the muscles round my knee strong. My physio has advised balancing on one foot, with the knee bent (not quite to 90 degrees), and with the weight more on the outside edge of the foot. The aim being to do it until I can do it on an unstable surface and with no shaking in those muscles - going by my current standard, that could take a while! It's those muscles around the knee that I feel tire first when I'm out-of-the-saddle climbing, so hopefully it will help with that as well as preventing a recurrence of pain.

In Cincinnnati the local FM station has a fit program hosted by a local woman who ran in Olympics. She often has discussions by local ortho on knee problems. Recently one said the best thing to strengthen the muscles around the knee cap were leg lifts. Just lay on the floor, tighten the quad, raise the leg, hold, make sure the quad is tight and lower.

My PT taught me these and I have been doing them for years. I started with 2 sets of 20 reps then progessed to 2 sets of 30 reps 3x per week.

Once the weather gets better I do ride, however last year I did my first triathlon and I am now training for another, so I can't just stop running alltogether. It's not a constant pain, I can run 3-4 days in a row without having any pain, it's if I twist or agrevate it somehow that the pain comes on and it takes a few days to go away. I guess it's time to start popping the advil.

Once the weather gets better I do ride, however last year I did my first triathlon and I am now training for another, so I can't just stop running alltogether. It's not a constant pain, I can run 3-4 days in a row without having any pain, it's if I twist or agrevate it somehow that the pain comes on and it takes a few days to go away. I guess it's time to start popping the advil.

I think that you might have worn out shoes, or maybe you overpronate too much when you run. if there is not pain at all when not running, and no pain when you bike, its your stride that needs correction. try getting some shoes that have support for side to side motion, usually called "motion-control" shoes.

There have been many discussions on various message boards regarding knee pain. Thought I would provide summary and what worked for me.

Being a member of the human race, a solution to all is difficult (e.g. one size does not fit all).

A little about me. I am 54 years old and own a recumbent trike, a Catrike Road.

I experienced knee pain with my DF, Weggie, as well with my new Catrike this year.

I spent exorbitant monies on a SRAM 81 speed and rotor cranks on my Catrike. Knee pain is still there, but much less.

Just bought knee savers for $46.00 and pain is again less. There are three sizes. I bought the 30mm (biggest size) only cause I am 6'4" tall and everything should be bigger to fit? They essentially move your foot/leg further away from the pedal. Details are at www.kneesaver.net/

Another less expensive solution is increasing your RPMs, cadence, higher number of revolutions. This is often called spinning at a higher rate. The easier exertion on the knee, the better. I use this process.

Those who ride with shoes with cleats profess if cleats are all the way to back of shoe, then knee pain is less. I did this also.

Buy good shoes and pedals. Seek medical advice if no improvements.

Another inexpensive way is have a professional fit you to your bike. And, stretching prior to and after riding is an excellent way of reducing and preventing knee pain. Leg weight training; leg presses, extensions and hamstring work on the circuit machines can be very tough on knees. Plenty of stretching and some core exercise (without weights) should help the glutes and lower back, but you have to go slow and not overdo these either.

Doctor says is attributed to growth and told me to take some supplements that lubricate the joints and supposedly help them heal. The supplement was chondroitin+glucosamine with hyaluronic acid.

There are probably many ideas to solve knee pain as there are riders.

Recommend you start with the least expensive and move up from there.

Catrike Road #116.

"Cats just don't feel safe on a moving bicycle, no matter how much duct tape you use"--Author unknown

There have been many discussions on various message boards regarding knee pain. Thought I would provide summary and what worked for me.

Being a member of the human race, a solution to all is difficult (e.g. one size does not fit all).

A little about me. I am 54 years old and own a recumbent trike, a Catrike Road.

I experienced knee pain with my DF, Weggie, as well with my new Catrike this year.

I spent exorbitant monies on a SRAM 81 speed and rotor cranks on my Catrike. Knee pain is still there, but much less.

Just bought knee savers for $46.00 and pain is again less. There are three sizes. I bought the 30mm (biggest size) only cause I am 6'4" tall and everything should be bigger to fit? They essentially move your foot/leg further away from the pedal. Details are at www.kneesaver.net/

Another less expensive solution is increasing your RPMs, cadence, higher number of revolutions. This is often called spinning at a higher rate. The easier exertion on the knee, the better. I use this process.

Those who ride with shoes with cleats profess if cleats are all the way to back of shoe, then knee pain is less. I did this also.

Buy good shoes and pedals. Seek medical advice if no improvements.

Another inexpensive way is have a professional fit you to your bike. And, stretching prior to and after riding is an excellent way of reducing and preventing knee pain. Leg weight training; leg presses, extensions and hamstring work on the circuit machines can be very tough on knees. Plenty of stretching and some core exercise (without weights) should help the glutes and lower back, but you have to go slow and not overdo these either.

Doctor says is attributed to growth and told me to take some supplements that lubricate the joints and supposedly help them heal. The supplement was chondroitin+glucosamine with hyaluronic acid.

There are probably many ideas to solve knee pain as there are riders.

Recommend you start with the least expensive and move up from there.

Catrike Road #116.

"Cats just don't feel safe on a moving bicycle, no matter how much duct tape you use"--Author unknown

that is by far the best answer Ive seen to any question on these forums. Im not the sharpest knife in the drawer and have had pain in my knees lately. Im 41,5-10, 200 pounds, I work on my feet all day, walk 45 minutes at a fast pace 6 times a week and love to mt. bike. the possible solutions were easy for me to understand. I moved my cleats back today,used smaller gears and concentrated on form and rode an extra 10 miles with very little pain. the only pain in the knees was in the muscles around them. I got some of that supplement tonight after the light bulb of the fact that my oldest dogs hip is no longer bothering her so much after taking that stuff for a few weeks came on. Ive got Smimono M180 shoes and ATAC pedals so they are ok. I tweaked my seatpost up just a smidge ysterday as well. the bike shop uses one of those lazer fit systems but when I get it adjusted to where they say is optimal it kills my back and hips so I just ride and tweak I got some pedal shims too and after tweaking them to just one in each cleat the power is better and no more foot pain. at first i thought it was the shims but I think it is over use now after reading here about the causes and solutions. again thank you for that reply to the post you may have saved me from going to my doctor

I'm 46 and have had chronic knee pain when running forever. Bad enough that I would need to stop running for 6 months to 1 year at a time. When I added a comprehensive stretching program, I was able to avoid the sore knees for a longer period of time, but it still always came back. When I added cycling to the mix, it really eliminated it. Biking really builds up the knee's supportive and aligning muscles and tissues.

Now, I'm careful not to run on successive days and my knees are virtually pain free. I run M-W-F and bike on T-Th-Sat. Being able to exercise this much helped me lose the extra 50 lbs that were also stressing out the knees.

I believe that biking and running are very complementary types of exercise. I'm going to use cycling to train for an upcoming marathon. Since my knees wont hold up to the high running mileage required for training, I plan to use cycling for additional endurance conditioning.

Of course, every running injury is different, so what worked well for one of us, may not be the answer for all.

I'm no medic. I do have a theory though. Running the same route over and over, particularly, but not exclusively, on paved roads, has one running on a crowned road. One's interior leg hits earlier and likely with different forces than the leg running nearer the shoulder. I don't think this is good. On a bike, on the other hand, provided one's legs are of equal length, there is equal impact and the same forces applied on both limbs. I think this is likely better.

i forgot, not being much of a stretcher, but I did stretch after riding yesterday. I took a gluco-chond last night before bed and Im not sure if it was the placebo effect or for real but my knees felt loose this morning and my elbow( another old injury) didnt hurt for the first time in a couple of years. after walking tonight I had just a twinge in my left knee. no anti inflamitories or tylenol all day today either. its either the stretching,the g-c, or both thanks for the help everyone

Cycle. Don't run. Running is no good for your knee if it already has issues. Running is no good for your knee if it don't have issues. I went through this same deal for about 10 years and finally hade surgery. Orthoscopic and I was on a bike (instead of running) in 2 weeks. Best move I have ever made. Surgery is not for everyone but get a professionals opinion (or two). Stick with a professional that specializes in sports related injuries if possible.